Start, Circuit de Catalunya, 2020

Rate the race: 2020 Spanish Grand Prix

2020 Spanish Grand Prix

Posted on

| Written by

What did you think of today’s race? Share your verdict on the Spanish Grand Prix.

RaceFans has held polls on every F1 race since 2008 to find out which fans thought of each round of the season.

Join in the latest poll and give your verdict on the race: 10 being the highest and 1 the lowest. Please vote based on how entertaining and exciting you thought the race was, not on how your preferred driver or team performed.

What were the best and worst moments of the race? What was the main thing you’ll remember about it? Rate the race out of ten and leave a comment below:

Rate the 2020 Spanish Grand Prix out of 10

  • 10 (1%)
  • 9 (2%)
  • 8 (2%)
  • 7 (9%)
  • 6 (20%)
  • 5 (18%)
  • 4 (15%)
  • 3 (16%)
  • 2 (9%)
  • 1 (9%)

Total Voters: 292

Loading ... Loading ...

1 = ‘Terrible’, 10 = ‘Perfect’

A RaceFans account is required to vote. You can register an account here or read more about registering here. When this poll is closed the result will be displayed instead of the voting form.

View more Rate the Race results:

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

93 comments on “Rate the race: 2020 Spanish Grand Prix”

  1. Strong 9

    Beautiful race!

    1. 5/10 for me. Nothing really happened after the start.

  2. Get in there, Lewis!

  3. 3/10. Like watching paint dry.

    1. Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
      16th August 2020, 15:49

      Generous

      1. It’s the Spanish Grand Prix, so it has to be graded on a curve…so I’ll give it a 4 LOL

        Seriously, I hope the 2022 cars make it possible to actually follow and have legitimate wheel to wheel racing, even at a track like Barcelona.

    2. Reginald Mongie
      17th August 2020, 7:33

      One of the most boring races I have watched this year. If this is what f1 has become I will have to stop watching. BORINGGGG.

    3. With the increasingly importance of tyre deg, it’s literally that

  4. Race was so exciting I fell asleep!!

    1. Masterclass from Hamilton.

      Don’t really understand why Bottas put on softs at his second stop when he had a brand new set of mediums available. Very disappointing that he couldn’t challenge Verstappen.

      1. Yes. Still not sure if that’s because VER is good is BOT is bad? Think it’s the former though.

      2. The tyre wouldn’t last the distance then he had to stop a third time. (that is what Toto and Bottas said)

    2. Yes, same here. And I was watching the highlights programme

  5. János (@meandthewanderlust)
    16th August 2020, 15:49

    As frustratingly boring as it gets.

    At least there was some fighting in the midfield.

    Kimi’s team radio made it a 2.

  6. Specialist in failure.

  7. 6, dull.
    So Bottas gets an extra point for being so bad in that Mercedes he couldn’t challenge Verstappen. And Hamilton loses out on another Grand Slam thanks to F1’s most idiotic rule.

  8. 6, dull.
    So Bottas gets an extra point for being so bad in that Mercedes he couldn’t challenge Verstappen. And Hamilton loses out on another Grand Slam thanks to F1’s most *&! rule.

    1. @david-br Grand slams does get incredibly hard when other drivers gets extra incentive to take the fastest lap, to the point of risking pit stops for them. But TBF, Bottas already had the fastest lap when he went for new tires, and Hamilton didn’t seem to set a new fastest lap before Bottas.

      OTOH, I guess there wouldn’t have been much point trying for Hamilton (though I do believe he took one last year or the year before, despite someone diving in for new tires).

      1. @losd Hamilton had set a FLAP just before Bottas did, so I presumed he’d go for one on the final lap, as he has done fairly often. Kind of pointless with Bottas pitting for fresh tyres though. It just seems to me a totally undeserved extra point when the slowest front runner can pit for fresh rubber.

        1. @david-br Yeah, the extra point is incredible silly.

          1. That point could be important relative to Verstappen. Hamilton wins the WDC no doubt

  9. Lol, somebody gave this a 10/10. Don’t ever go round their house for a party, what a snoozefest that would be.

    1. I gave it 9, and I enjoyed t thoroughly.
      Have any problems with that?

      1. @dallein I don’t have a problem with that, but I think you might have a problem with yourself!

    2. I can only assume they sneezed when making their selection and a droplet landed on their phone screen causing the 10 to be chosen.

  10. almost as bad as the 2019 french gp.

  11. Jack (@jackisthestig)
    16th August 2020, 15:50

    Lewis’ team radio said it all. “Spectacular tyre management Lewis, great job!”. The trouble is it’s not that spectacular to watch.

    1. And Max’s team radio said “Lewis is driving so slowly” – but when Lewis picked up the pace where was Max?

    2. Easy to be ‘spectacular’ when even slowing down by two seconds means you still have the fastest car!

  12. 4/10
    Other than the start there was not much of excitement.

  13. A relatively decent race for this track’s standards, especially in the midfield despite the low number of overtakes.

    1. @jerejj as you note, if you looked at what was going on in the midfield, there was actually a decent amount of action there – there was a particularly fierce scrap between Norris and Leclerc, for example, with both drivers showing a fair amount of ability in both attacking and defending.

      Of course, because it doesn’t involve the big name drivers at the front, the TV cameras only picked up part of it and most people here will moan because they either didn’t see it or don’t care because it didn’t involve their favourite driver.

      1. Yep @jerejj quite a decent race for a Spanish GP, gave it 7/10

        1. @bosyber I also chose 7.
          @anon Indeed. Those battles could’ve been given even more screen time.

      2. A Spanish GP is always between a 2 and a 7 for me, simply because this track can’t deliver really good racing. Now, today wasn’t the worst Spanish GP, but it lacked excitement. I gave it a 4.

  14. The first stint was atrocious. After the first round of pitstops however, i thought it was a decent race, lots of fights in the midfield. rain could have turned this race around completely but i’m not too disappointed tbh, no merc 1-2, quite a lot of overtaking, not as bad as i thought. still i have to mark it down for the start so it’s a 6

  15. Let’s hope this track will finally get dropped for the next year. Totally unsuitable for the current F1.

    1. Especially after the back straight it is painful to watch. Some broadcasted shots of the group behind Vettel through that bloody chicane looked like super-slow-motion.

    2. Good track for testting though.

    3. -1

      Hope it stays forever.

    4. Is this track remaining in the calendar some sort of quiproquo with Spanish autoracing authority?
      Ive seen MotoGP on a couple of spanish tracks that seemed better than Barcelona.

  16. Exceedingly dull

  17. After the first pit stops it was nice to watch some battles in the midfield but after that, it was pretty lame.
    I’m gonna pretend this season isn’t happening after all, what a borefest this is turning into.

  18. If it wasn’t for the top three who weren’t racing each other just driving around, the race would have been ok ish (5 or 6) as there was not much overtaking and a lot of cars following each other only able to use DRS to pass. But with the top three being the only ones on the final lap and 20 seconds apart each it was really a waste of an afternoon to watch so 1 because 0 is not available.

  19. 3/10, won’t live long in the memory. Front 2 teams are embarrassing amount ahead

    1. You mean front 1 and a half team:-)

  20. A 7. Away from the top handful of places, the battling was pretty epic for a good part of the race.

  21. Boring, Only seb Vs Ferrari on the radio made it interesting, wow Ferrari is very very stupid indeed… What an awesome strategy

    1. Can’t wait to see the full transcript.

      1. By the looks of what happened on track, and past Vettel/Ferrari radio, what we heard was all what was aid.

  22. And the F1 purists want the younger generation to PAY to watch this.
    Fastest car to slowest car doing a time-trial.

    1. Which would almost be acceptable if they were actually trying to get the best time, but that just felt like 4 hours of tyre management and minimising risk.

    2. Exactly!
      I got F1TV subscription last 2 seasons and that will be it from me.

      F1TV that often don’t work and have no before and after race interviews which i all have on “unofficial” SAME Sky F1 streams…

    3. This is Grand Prix racing, not play station racing.
      There are literally dozens of series for those with short attention spans who fall asleep during races like this. The race was a tactical battle that was actually quite exciting in the mid field.

      Of the top series, only F1 has the strategic questions and the technical aspect of different cars – you could argue Indycar has strategy, but it really doesn’t and is a spec series anyway…

      When F1 is spectacular, it’s an incredible thing to see, but when it isn’t it’s still fascinating for someone who understands the intricacies.

      I really, really hope that that doesn’t get lost in the future because of pandering to those who absolutely must see F3 and F2 style racing in F1. That’s not what it’s about, never has been and never should be – it’s always been about technical differences and team work, car and tyre management and always about tactics – not just spectacular passes, though it’s great when it happens.

  23. Normal service resumed.

    3/10.

  24. That was exceptionally dull. Easily the worst this season to be honest.

  25. Why all the low rating? Because for me it was mediocre with the maximum of 5.

  26. Could understand someone giving this low marks…no highlights at all…Seb did well in that car/team..and for a german his ‘british’ sarcasm on the radio is priceless

    1. I’m wondering if Seb was inspired by Dovi earlier.
      He’s out at Ducati and getting the cold shoulder….Response; smoke em all and WIN.
      @ 4 should have been 3.

  27. Awful. Just Awful.

  28. Boring race, nothing of note happened

  29. A solid 1/10.

  30. Barcelona is probably a nice place to do testing, but has nothing to offer in terms of racing….

  31. Bo Christensen
    16th August 2020, 16:10

    It is a very hot day here where I was watching. Took my wife out for an ice cream at the cafe around the corner around lap 10 and came back to watch the last 10 laps. It was a good ice cream, is all I can say.

  32. In case you missed it.
    HAM spent first 10 laps trying to back VER into BOT. BOT took usual Sunday drive.
    Red Bull pit stop time for both their cars was less than Mercedes crew spent on HAM’s first stop.
    Mid field battle was exciting at times.
    Ferrari tried to kill LEC by shutting off his car in the middle of a turn. LEC called it a day when team wanted a second shot at killing him.
    Ferrari annoyed VET by deciding on a tyre strategy with 5 laps to go in race. VET slowed down and tried to get out of the points.
    BOT cruised around for the last 15 laps never getting closer to VER until 3 laps to go then his team handed him fastest lap.
    As with every race so far this year, video production crew failed during final lap by showing a picture of GRO for 10 seconds, showing HAM for too long, and BOT for way too long, whilst not showing the battles for the points. Shocking how little racing is shown during the final lap.

    1. Leclerc went over the kerbs. That can affect the electricals. Vettel slowed down naturally because 37 laps on soft tyres is just not possible.

    2. My god.
      You didn’t understand any of it, did you?

  33. 6 for me.
    I might be boring for the lead, and disappointing Bottas didn’t at least try to attack Verstappen, but behind that there were sufficient interesting fights. The 6 though because those fight proved how difficult it is to overtake.
    Leclerc tried to make it entertaining; Albon tried the outside of turn 4; Grosjean was dangerous when defending against RAI and not sure how he ended up on the wrong track when overtaken by GIO.
    Well done by SAI, GAS, and even VET.

  34. We just need to get rid of this track. It’s just way to hard to follow with all these long medium and high speed corners and that technical last sector. Good for testing, terrible for racing!

  35. I go into Spanish GP weekends with low expectations, so I’m rarely too disappointed. Before the first round of stops it was almost painful, but after that it came to life a little bit.

    Gave it a five for the midfield action and occasional close racing, rising to a six with a bonus point for F1 deciding against a double-header at Barcelona…

    1. with a bonus point for F1 deciding against a double-header at Barcelona

      Lol

  36. It doesn’t matter how much I enjoy visiting Barcelona. This track should be dropped from F1 calendar. It’s a great track for MotoGP, but it is unsuitable for modern F1.
    Very, very dull races.
    The fact that the winner was complimented on the radio of his “spectacular tyre management” says it all.

    1. The problem is not just the track, but the really the fact that they test there so much. By the time they arrive, it’s usually Noah’s ark (two by two) on the grid with a few exceptions. I would definitely have curtailed Friday practice this year as an experiment, even if they are going to do it at Imola later.

  37. I was expecting a dull race, and that’s what we got. However, with this attitude, the race itself wasn’t as abysmal as some of the other borefests around this track, as the midfield pack proved somewhat entertaining. So below average 4/10 for me.

  38. 1.

    Nothing to be seen.

    Bottas doesn’t have what it takes… therefore VER is 2nd….. some might say at the end of the season RBR had what it takes to challenge the WDC, but HAM made a difference…. just like in the previous years with Ferrari. Truth is, only BOT is the weak link here for an easy 1-2 Mercedes.

  39. I got excited watching the rain radar on my phone, only to be disappointed when the large cloud started drifting North. That was the highlight.

  40. Dire. Once again the promise of rain never materialises.

  41. 6 typical race here. Looking forward Spa and Monza.

  42. boring

  43. Obviously a 1 or 2.

    I don’t understand how someone can give this a 6 or more, which would mean it was a better than average race.

  44. A bad race. Of course if you like formula 1 always are something to look at, but was one of worse races y last years.

  45. petebaldwin (@)
    16th August 2020, 18:35

    I gave it a 2 because it could have been more boring than it was. It made me a bit sad though watching the race. Hamilton has so much talent but it’s almost being wasted with him winning so easily most weeks…

    I want to see him win a title vs some actual competition. At the moment it’s like watching the worlds strongest man lift a 5lb dumbbell or Usain Bolt win a 100m race in 50 seconds.

      1. You make a good point here. Hamilton’s multiple World Championships will probably for ever be undervalued owing to the dominance of his car. People looking back in 15/20 years time will say he won 6/7/8 WDCs but he never really had any decent competition. Apart from Rosberg who promptly retired.

  46. 10/10. Best race ever.

    1. Yeah, I also gave it a 1.

  47. 6/10 here, not great, start made for a few interesting laps and there was a fair bit going on in the midfield.

  48. Best Spanish Grand Prix since 2017, though that’s not saying much.

  49. I actually thought it was a decent race. At least I kept watching to see what could happen between the three front cars. Bottas on soft could have give some excitement, unfortunately those turned out the wrong tyres. So in the end that was a bit of an anticlimax, but still it kept me watching from lap 1 to lap 55. After that indeed it got boring.

    Midfield battle was ruined by lack of overtaking possibility between cars of quite broadly similar pace. That could have been epic with different tyre strategies and feisty youngsters going for it. It all got ruined by the fact that doing a stop less turned out best and no one could overtake.

  50. Complete borefest. Let’s stop testing at a circuit we also use for a championship round, and also let’s stop racing at circuits that are boring and full of medium speed corners that these cars cannot follow and pass at. Formula 2 shows that identical cars with less drag and less impact on aero when following can produce exciting racing, the way F1 cars operate means circuits like this will always produce rubbish racing, and Saturdays mean too much

  51. Gave it 3, and good to see the average was indeed pretty low, think majority voted 6, was sooooooo boring, even though it’s good to have someone stop mercedes 1-2s ofc.

  52. 7 for me it was over all a good race again due to the mid field competition.

  53. 5/10 for me. My lowest score of the season so far.

    No real action for the lead at all. A few close-ish fights in mid-field but that’a about it. Not really sure this circuit should remain on the calendar as with this current generation of cars, it just produces very dull racing.

    The only really good news is that no spectators had to pay a lot of money to watch it.

Comments are closed.